2011 MotoGP
After his turn-2 crash at Motegi MotoGP Sunday, Valentino Rossi was checked by the Clinica Mobile, and although he suffered pain in his left hand, initial reports showed nothing was broken.
But following the Japanese GP, Round 15 of the 2011 MotoGP Championship, Rossi kept experiencing severe pain and swelling in the lift hand, and underwent futher testing.
Ducati says "Additional X-rays revealed a hairlinefracture at the arthrodesis of the first and second phalanx of the pinky finger on his left hand."
But although in pain, the week off before Phillip Island MotoGP on Oct. 16 should allow some additional healing time for the Italian. Ducati says Valentino Rossi’s "participation in the Australian Grand Prix on October 16 is not in doubt."
During that wreck at Motegi, Rossi moved to the left, opening up room for a charging Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing). But while moving left, he made contact with Spies’ teammate Jorge Lorenzo, and rode the GP11.1 back to the right in front of Spies. Valentino Rossi low-sided, running Spies off the track.
The Texan Spies was able to restart the race, but Rossi’s day in Japan was over. Here’s what Rossi said following Motegi MotoGP.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team GP11.1 MotoGP) says: "It’s really a shame to be out of the race after two corners, especially after the progress that we made this weekend, and with the knowledge that we’d worked on the bike well. I was fourth in the morning warm-up, and it would have been possible to have a pace in the high 1:46 range.
"I also think our choice of tires for the race-hard on the back and soft on the front-was correct. When you also consider the troubles that Stoner, Simoncelli and Dovizioso had, we could have fought for the podium, which would have been really nice for us. We were a little unlucky. Unfortunately, Lorenzo went onto the grass slightly in Turn 1, and in the next turn he moved suddenly to get his trajectory right.
"He didn’t see me because I was slightly behind. When he touched me, it pushed me into Spies, who touched my front brake lever. It was normal racing contact, but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway, we did a good job this weekend, and we were more competitive than usual. It’s a challenging time for us, but we hope we’re on the right path."
In other Ducati MotoGP news, Rossi’s teammate Nicky Hayden will test the GP12 at Jerez in Spain, which will be the last of eight days the team is allowed to test the 2012 MotoGP prototype.
